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In determining applications, the Council considers each case on its merits. If a proposal meets the Council's policies and standards, and accords with Government guidance, planning permission will usually be granted.
The Council aims to decide 80% of applications within eight weeks of receipt and in many cases for more straightforward proposals this is often between four and six weeks.
Once an application is submitted, the application is assigned to a case officer and consultation is undertaken. The Council are required to allow 21 days for comments to be made before a decision is considered. Other consultees, such as government agencies and the utility companies have up to 28 days to make their comments.
All sites are visited by the case officer in order to assess the merits of the proposals. If any modifications are required, the case officer will negotiate such changes with the applicant or their agent. The case officer will then prepare a brief report on the case and will summarise any representations received in making a recommendation. If neighbour objections are received, the planning officer will carefully assess the issues in making a recommendation.
You can check on progress of an application here using the search pages.
The Council operates 2 levels of decision making when determining planning applications. The majority of applications are delegated to be determined by planning officers. However, some applications are determined by the Council's Planning Committee, which meets on a four weekly cycle. The Committee meetings are open to the public, and applicants and members of the public have an opportunity to speak on those applications being considered by that Committee.
In the interests of improving efficiency, the Council determines a significant number of applications, over 90%, under delegated powers. These include matters such as:
The Development Control Manager will make the decision to approve or refuse the application and impose any conditions thought to be necessary. The decision notice will then normally be dispatched on the same day or the following day.
All applications are reported with a recommendation made by the planning case officer. The members can however decide to make a different decision or defer the matter for more information or for a site visit.
Decisions made by the Planning or Area Committees are normally issued the day after the meeting.
Click here to view Planning Committee agendas and minutes.
In some cases, the decision is subject to the signing of a Section 106 Planning Obligation, which is a legal agreement used to either enhance the quality of a development or to enable proposals to go ahead which might otherwise be refused. In this case the decision is only issued after the Obligation has been signed.
Where the Council refuses planning permission or grants approval subject to conditions, the applicant may appeal against the decision. The period is currently six months from the date of the decision for most planning and listed building applications. There is no third party right of appeal against a decision. The appeal is made to the Planning Inspectorate. For further information on appeals, please see our Appeals page or search for appeals here.